Sheikh Uthman Hadi - The Levels of Taqwa in Ramadan | Friday Khutbah

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. Dear brothers and sisters, as we find ourselves in the blessed month of Ramadan, it is essential to reflect on the concept of Taqwa, or God-consciousness, which is the ultimate goal of fasting during this holy month. Allah says in the Quran, "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous" Quran 2:183). In this talk, we will explore the levels of Taqwa and how we can strive to elevate our consciousness of Allah during Ramadan.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sheikh-uthman-hadi--6689369/support.https://sheikhuthmanhadi.beam.lyhttps://open.spotify.com/user/315hadqmwxllibu6ubi5us2cbn2y?si=572b4d8898284e9ehttps://open.spotify.com/show/3MQHfrpjj3XXcqoPbN5Dl8?si=v6YQ42kpSx-VONBFhT3CzA

Bism Allah, the Allah, Allah, Allah, and all the Lord of the Alamian, and allah and all right He

and alhah Allah, in the Hamd to Godhideh and we and we'llhue and we'll alhally and

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Allah, Wahah Allah, and I shhhhhhhraud, Mauda, Abdu, and Rassu. Assalamu alaikum and your brothers and sisters. I pray that everyone is doing well and I ask Allah,

to grant his special mercy to forgive us to send our shortcomings and grants a special mercy not only in this life but maybe in the next. Major brothers and sisters, al-hhhhemalah, we are approaching the beautiful month of Ramadan. We have maybe about less than two weeks now, you know, inshallah. So I encourage everyone to start making their goals for the beautiful month of Ramadan and make them goals that you know, inshallahata are going to help better yourself in the throughout the year. Not just in the month of Ramadan, but throughout the year. You know, there are some people who do things just throughout the month of Ramadan,

but try to better yourself in the month of Ramadan as a training ground, and then take what you've learned, take what you've trained your body, and you've trained your soul and your heart to do, and then take that out into the year. Because you know that, inshallah, after the month of Ramadan ends, it is going to be carnage for us, as the satan would be coming back again, trying to get us again.

So this is the time, my dear brothers and sisters, in which I encourage all of us to try and better ourselves, to try and gain closeness to Allah, try and better our connection and gain a deeper connection with him. My dear brothers and sisters, it is essential for us to reflect on the concept of takwa or being God conscious or being conscious of Allah at all times. And there are multiple levels to takua.

You know, there's not just tukwa. Takwa, that's all. But there are actually, specifically, if I mentioned here, there are five levels that I'm going to mention, inshally, to takwa. And Allah, Suhanna, and Allah, sa's in the Quran, which, as I said, this beautiful Mata Ramadan is meant for fasting. Like Allah, Suhannahu, Tala says in the Quran. He says, Bismillah, Rahman, and Rahim. Yeah, ayy, al-lhleven, and kutib on you, He says, fasting has been

Kabriqum, Kabriqum, la'allekom He says, fasting has been prescribed upon you. He's speaking to us. In the modern day, he's saying fasting has been prescribed upon you

as it was prescribed upon those who came before you so that you may become righteous and gain takua. Become righteous through what? And gain takwa through what? So Allah, Suu, Allah, Taha, is saying, you will become righteous through remembrance of me

and following what I tell you to do and obeying me, he's saying, and you will be, you will gain taqua through what? You gain taqua through fasting. You will gain taqua through remembering me throughout this month, which is specifically what Allah, Supanahua is saying here. And my brothers and sisters, we have to realize that takwa is, we are trying to ensure that we strive to elevate our taqua during this maturamadan. You know, tukwa is derived from the Arabic root word,

which actually means to protect oneself. It signifies that there is a state of a person where a person is consistently aware of Allah's presence and strives to avoid actions that displease him. The tukwa encompasses both fear of Allah, Allah, Sufana'u'll His punishment and hope of His mercy. Hope in His mercy, hope in his forgiveness. You're hoping in Allah.

Why do you think Allah, Sufanahu, Tala, tells us, Do not despair in the mercy of Allah. Do not lose hope in the mercy and the forgiveness of Allah, so here, Allah, Sufanahu, Tala is giving to us when it comes to our takwa. He is giving us that it is understanding the intense amount of Allah suprana huta'u's punishment for the wrong that we may do if we disobey him. And also hoping in his mercy and his forgiveness, if we do wrong, still coming back to him. When we sin, when we make mistakes, we still come back to him.

we still come back to Allah. Even though we might have transguessed against ourselves, we still come back to Allah. This is what Takwa means. It is a comprehensive concept that influences our thoughts, actions, and interactions with others. Takwa, major brothers and sisters,

can be understood in various levels. And during the month of Ramadan, we have a unique opportunity because we don't have the Shetan throughout this month for the 29, 30 days to distract us from this concept. Here I'm about to mention but we have this time to elevate our taqua, right?

We have opportunities to gain better taqua and closeness and consciousness and awareness of Allah throughout the matrimadan. And I want to like to go over the first level and the foundational level of takwa, which is the takwa that involves being aware of Allah's existence in his commands. This awareness prompts us to fulfill our obligations and our acts of worship, such as the five daily prayers and fasting during the month of Ramadan. And the Prophet of Allah a. A.u'llá'u'll say, fear Allah wherever you are, which implies that this is a means of our tukwa. He's saying that no matter where you are, whether or not you are in public, whether or not you're in private, fear Allah. Because Allah, supanah, Hei, ta'a, sees you.

The people don't see you, but Allah, supanahua'u'u'a seiz us, right? doesn't matter whether or not you're in a room and clothes, whether or not you're in your house, whether or not you're in a bunker under the ground. It does not matter. Allah, Supanahua Tala, still sees us and he still keeps track of the things that we do. So the Prophet of Allah a.

Aalai'u'llu'll say, fear Allah, wherever you are. Fear that Allah is watching you, you know that whatever you are doing, Allah is watching. And the angels are always with you and they are always writing things down. So, my dear brothers and sisters,

this level of taqua encourages us to perform our duty sincerely inconsistently. And among the second level of taqua, that is the taqua of the heart, which is sincerity and our nia, our intentions. As we progress to the next level of taqua, which is the number two one, this involves sincerity in our intentions. It is not enough just to perform the acts of worship, but rather we must ensure that our hearts are aligned with our actions. And as the Prophet of Allah a Hewsellam emphasized the importance of intentions or the Nia in a hadith in which he says actions are judged by intention and every person will get that of

what he has intended. So what he is implying here is that anything that you intend, you will be rewarded for it, whether that is good or bad rewards. So what is saying here is that if you seek to do good and seek to please Allah, and not disobey him, you will be given a good reward, right? you will be given a good reward. And if you do the opposite, if you plan to disobey Allah, which, you know, when you do it, like I mentioned in my talk a couple of days ago, I mentioned about your good deeds and your bad deeds and how when it comes to your bad

deeds, you're not written down just yet until that time comes up and which Allah shi upon a whole atal writes it down tells the angels to write it down. But for a period of time, once you commit that sin or once you have the intention to commit the sin, It is not held against you until the certain time period. Only Allah, Allah, Sufana-Hu-Talda knows is take an account for it. So my dear brothers and sisters, ensuring that we are trying to strive to purify our intentions,

seeking Allah-Supana-Hu-Talda's pleasure in every act of worship, whether it is fasting, whether it is praying, whether it is giving charity, whether it is duqa, whether it is dikr. It could be any act of worship. We are trying to please Allah, suprana huatara and allah alone we do not want to please any human we do not want to do anything that is going to displease Allah right so ensuring my dear brothers and sisters that we

try to purify our intentions throughout this month and among the third level my dear brothers and sisters is takwa in our actions which is avoiding sin when it becomes difficult to sin this is among the third level that we're getting into now and the third level of takua is reflected in our actions. This involves actively avoiding sinful behaviors and striving to adhere to the teachings of Islam. Ramadan serves a training ground, my dear brothers and sisters for this level of tukua as we abstain from food, drink, and other permissible things during the time period that Allah supanahua Tallah has prescribed us to fast. And we fast out of, what? We fast out of obligation? No. We fast out of obeying Allah. Allah, Sufano, His Allah, Tala, told us,

You fast a certain period of time, we obey, right? We listen and we obey. We don't say, why do we fast a certain period of time? Or we don't make our own decisions. We don't say, I think I'm going to fast for three hours when I'm supposed to actually fast for six. So ensuring that we are obeying Allah, this is the taqua as well and our actions as well.

And my dear brothers and sisters, this practice level of takwa practices, self-control and discipline, enabling us to resist temptations and sinful inclinations. Allah supan and the Quran and do not follow the footsteps of Shaitan.

So by avoiding sin, we strengthen our taqua and draw closer to Allah, Saffan, or how it's a'a. And among the fourth level of taqua, my dear brothers and sisters, is the taqua in your character, in your good conduct. So as we cultivate

taqua, my dear brothers and sisters, it should manifest in our achalach, in our character, and our interactions with others. And the Prophet of Allah a lai-u-sand-a-u-sand-was-known for his exemplary character. And he said, the most beloved of Allah's servants to him

are those who have the best of character. So the Prophet of Allah a la Hew's Sallam is telling us to practice bettering our character, so have taqua within our character, being conscious that Allah supano hua Tala is watching me, right? And ensuring that we are worshipping Allah and we are remembering that having taqua is very important. And ensuring that we are bettering our character and our conduct.

My dear brothers and sisters, we should focus on embodying good manners, patience and compassion towards others. This level of taqua in which I mentioned, which was level four, of takwa encourages us to forgive those who have wronged us and to engage in acts of kindness and charity. My dear brothers and sisters, the fifth and the highest level of takwa is the taqua of the soul, which is a deep connection with Allah, Suhpana, ho, Tala. This is the very highest level. It is a profound connection that the servant has. has with Allah, where one's heart is filled with love and remembrance for their creator. They love their creator.

This level is characterized by a constant remembrance of Allah, which is Dhikr and a desire to seek his pleasure in all aspects of life. And Allah, and Allah, and Allah states in the Quran, indeed in the remembrance of Allah, do hearts find rest. So during the Matar Ramadan,

Majabhas and sisters, we should strive to increase our al-a-ha-ha-a-ha-ha-a-sha-sha-sha. acts of worship, but just reciting the Quran, making dua, and engaging in thikers to deepen our connection and our relationship with Allah. My dear brothers and sisters, in order for us to elevate our taqua this Ramadan, we must follow steps that help us elevate our taqua, such as reading the Quran, increasing our Quran recitation, setting a goal to read and reflect on the Quran daily. The Quran is a source of guidance and a means to strengthen our taqua like Allah,

subhahua and He says in the Quran. He says, Shafro Ramadan, which isle in the Quran and hudal to behehinae from the huda and furskhan.

The Quran was sent down throughout the matter of Ramadan as a guidance to all of humanity. All of humanity. In the standard of humanity, he is saying to differentiate between good and bad. So my My dear brothers and sisters ensure that we are increasing in Quranic recitation.

And another one of the steps that I believe is very powerful is engaging in dua. My dear brothers and sisters, making dua, making sincere dua to Allah, Sapa and Hewada, asking for guidance and strength to maintain taqua on our lives. My dear brothers and sisters ensuring that we are performing extra sala'a, extra, the extra non-obligatory. It's not obligatory upon us. It's voluntary. We can do it if we want, and it's best.

If we do so, if we don't, then we are not sinful and it's not held upon us. My dear brothers and sisters, do aathismata Ramadan, in order to gain a better connection to Allah, ensure that you are increasing in the remembrance of Allah, ensure that you're bettering your relationship with Allah, suhpano, hu, ta'a, through these, and especially seeking to perform the Hajjah throughout the last third of the night. And the last of things I want to mention, my dear brothers and sisters, is practicing gratitude, as of reflecting on the blessings and life in your life and experience. expressing gratitude to Allah,

Sufana-ahua-ta-a-a-a-a-a-a is very important. This practice, my dear brothers and sisters, fosters a positive mindset and strengthens our connection with Allah, suhphan, or how does it-a-a-a-a-a-a-a. So, my dear brothers and sisters, ensure that this month is a transformative month for all of us, even though it may be hard, ensure that now you start now writing your goals down,

trying to figure out how can you better your connection with Allah throughout this month, how can you strengthen your taqua throughout this month, how can you build a better and stronger connection to Allah better than anything you've ever had and how can you ensure that this taqua and this connection you have with Allah

will not only just last in the month of Ramadan for the 29 or 30 days for the 30 nights but it will last for the rest of the year inshallah ta'all and we ask Allah suhāura hua ta'a grant us all a blessed Ramadan and to grant us all the ability to make it to see the matur Ramadan and learn from it and to take the blessings

and the lessons and everything that we do within the month of Ramadan outside and to practice it throughout the year. And I'll call it, d'a'u'a'u'a'a'am. Bismillah, Rahman, andrahman, al-hameh, al-hameh, and al-a, Rasmuil Allah, and al-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-harmu'a. Innavah, in haemdhah, we'rehaw-hury-huehah, and we'rehulah, mehah, and wehulah, and we'rehaw-haw-a-haw-a-haw-haw-a-haw-haw-hore. Allah, Iulah, Allah, one of his

shriek, and we shod, and Muhammad, abdhdu, and a russauda, alh, alh, alhah, alhah, al-a-ahedana, and ma'amah, thou'heda'una, and haught, Godh,

God,h,h,h, meh, and haf, meh, hae'n, and t'hue, and bless'n't in my t'h, and byrhmathe onna, byrhmat your shirr, and you

can't be the right, and youude to dole, and it, that he's, man and not you iszum an adait tabaracted ourubana and ta'aulaheat.

Bism Allah Rahmaneeraheem. Alhambhaviliah Allahe Allahe and al-A Rostalamuulun carim Amma back with your brothers

and sisters inshallah we will start our Juma Salat inshah Allah and Akemi Salah.